


I'm in My Favorite Band

by emofitz (morbid_beauty)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bands, Not!Fic, Other, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22995649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbid_beauty/pseuds/emofitz
Summary: I've gotten a few messages on Tumblr about the very specific niche of MCR and Agents of SHIELD my blog fits and one time I jokingly replied "AU where Fitz is MCR's drummer" and here's the monstrosity of a not!fic that was birthed from that mind exercise, enjoy.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse/Jemma Simmons, implied past Frank/Gerard
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	I'm in My Favorite Band

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cemeteryglow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cemeteryglow/gifts).



I'm excited because I've never written a not!fic before and I really wanted to give it a try so I'm glad this idea came to me because I just really love Leo Fitz and MCR and this is so silly and fun.

MCR has had bad luck with drummers, we know this. Otter wasn't good enough to be at their level, Bryar is a racist pig, and Pedicone is a literal thief??? Why was one of the biggest bands in the world cursed with such bad luck? Will they ever be able to trust another drummer again?

Enter Leopold Fitz, scientist extraordinaire and weekend punk band drummer. He's an undercover emo, of course he is, he's bi and probably has BPD by the way he acts and had a pretty fucked up childhood. That makes for an emo. My Chem's music saved his life uwu and he's definitely crushing on Frank "The Rat" Iero but none of us can help that, he's only human. He has embarrassing photos of himself with terrible makeup at 12 years old and he saw MCR at Wembley with his band's bassist and probably-more-than-friend, Lance Hunter (we knew this was gonna turn gay, come on). He would get an MCR tattoo if he was that kinda guy but instead he settles for owning every single vinyl they've ever put out and proudly announcing that they're his favorite band to anyone who will listen. No shame. It's great fucking rock music.

He played drums growing up - his mom got them for him when his dad left and he learned a bunch of MCR songs To Cope - but never really played in a band. He wanted to be an engineer and he did it because he's awesome, and he moved to London to work after he finished university. (He goes back to Scotland regularly to visit mom, of course.) London is where he met Hunter and Jemma Simmons and Bobbi Morse, and they started a band a few months into their friendship when they realized there were just the right people for it. They're called The Shield and Simmons and Morse play guitar and share the lead singer role, lots of cool harmonies, very sexy rock chick vibes. Hunter screams. And Fitz is such an incredible drummer, they start to build a buzz because people love seeing this unassuming Scottish man just fucking wreck it on stage with these three other beautiful people screaming their lungs out.

(They call each other by their last names to draw attention away from the fact that Fitz goes by his last name and also because why not.)

When MCR breaks up, Fitz quits his job to do his band full time because nothing matters anymore and he just wants to play music. He's having so much fun with his friends, they're working on a record, and only playing weekends felt Bad. They tour the UK, make a modest living - jk they're hella struggling but they have each other! And they have their friends! They squeeze into a van and venue basements, sleep on friends’ floors, take breaks to go home and pay their bills, and do it all over again. It’s wild and weird, and scary and exhausting, and Fitz loves it.

They're all kinda hooking up with each other in this...not polyamorous necessarily, but they're good friends and they're hot and they're plastered to each other in a van on the road and kissing is fun and so is sex so why not? Punk rock. Make out with your friends. There’s not much else to do in the back of a van.

No one else likes Frank's solo music so Fitz goes to a Cellabration show alone which was a Bad idea because Frank just hangs out at the merch table and... Wow, he's even prettier up close. Fitz is totally freaking out. He has a demo in his pocket, he hoped to meet Frank to give it to him, this is good and what he wanted, but when he's face-to-face with Frank he's so star struck he completely forgets. Just buys a shirt and moves on, barely talks to the guy, just stares at his pretty face and expectant smile and shakily points at what he wants.

"Gonna need you to use your words," Frank teases, and fuck oh fuck, number B Fitz says, getting a laugh out of Frank, this honky little sound that has Fitz smiling back, his face fucking red, and he tells Frank to keep the change as a tip. When Fitz goes to the bathroom to change into the shirt, he feels the demo in his pocket and runs back out to give it to Frank but he's gone. Frantic, and pissed at himself, he gives it to Evan.

Nothing comes of it right away.

Frank listens to the demo eventually and thinks it's alright. Nothing mind blowing. The drumming is sick, though. Like, some of those beats actually are blowing his mind. It's the best thing about it. He checks out the band's website and the songs on there are more polished, tweaked just slightly - they've added a keyboardist named Daisy Johnson and her influence is clear and awesome. The Shield could have something here. Frank even tells the guys from MCR about the band, and they suggest taking The Shield out on tour next time he's in the UK. Frank loves this idea.

When Frank's management reaches out to The Shield, this unsigned 5-piece that's been pretty DIY and stuck playing nearly empty basements, they go. Absolutely. Feral about it. Frank Iero, THE Frank Iero, of My Chemical Romance fame, that guy, he wants them to tour with his band? What? They say yes, of course they say yes, and it's terrifying and exciting, and Fitz is just stoked that he's gonna see Frank Iero and the Patience every night. And he's gonna get paid for it!!! Everyone else in the band sings his praises for giving Evan that demo, what a stroke of luck and genius.

Fitz is way better the second time around, when they meet in some London office the day before the first show, and he gets to tell Frank how much MCR and Frank's solo stuff means to him, and Frank is so attentive and sweet and grateful, and says "I love your band too, you're such a good drummer!" and Fitz ;-; melts yo, he's gonna remember that moment for the rest of his life probably. Things really couldn't get better. He's pretty shy around Frank and the Patience to start but they're all so nice. Hunter and Johnson become fast friends with Frank, the three of them have similar senses of humor and are always kind of fucking around, and Fitz is jealous but Who Cares, he gets to hang out with Frank every night, what the fuck is even his life.

By now *obligatory romantic subplot warning* The Shield are not all hooking up anymore, Johnson and Simmons are sorta dating and so are Hunter and Morse though occasionally, occasionally, Fitz will get involved ahem because it sucks and is weird that he became the fifth wheel and they still like him they just prefer each other. It still puts a little damper on the tour and one afternoon Fitz is pouting in a venue break room and Frank asks what's up and Fitz just spills everything. How they went from cuddle piles to the rare threesome and they don't even kiss him anymore, not so casually, not like they used to. They worked so hard on the band and he didn't realize they were drifting from him and toward each other until it was kinda too late. Frank definitely didn't expect the word vomit but he listens patiently and has some advice when Fitz is done pouring his heart out.

"Yeah, I'm gonna suggest not dating people in your band," Frank says, and Fitz is Thinking Hard about that, and Frank is definitely Not gonna elaborate on his own experience in the matter. The Shield can do whatever they want, Frank says, but from his experience, the relationships between band members are already so intense and life-changing, and adding anything that could make it more intense could also make it more fragile.

Fitz tries, because he's curious, and he shouldn't but he asks, "Is that what happened with...?"

Frank gives him a Look and Fitz doesn't finish the question.

The tour is otherwise awesome. Hearing Frank shout out The Shield every night is the best moment of Fitz's life over and over. He's stoked. They're doing so well, getting so many new fans, selling out of their stuff at every venue because they didn't have much to begin with. One night, The Patience's drummer is too sick to play and they almost cancel the show but Fitz knows a few songs and says he can easily learn the rest. And he does, because he's that fucking good y'all, you gotta understand that he's a God tier drummer and Frank already knew that but the way Fitz just learns the entire set in an afternoon solidifies it. Fitz puts in his own flare, his own showmanship, his own intensity, and Frank thinks he's got a future legend among the ranks here. This is seriously the best drummer he's ever played with.

Performing onstage with Frank Iero, Fitz thinks he can die happy. He's singing along to every song from the back, and one time Frank comes up to the drum set and smiles and sings at him, and Fitz is so floored and ecstatic like :D!!!!!! It's the best night of the tour, and when Frank gestures to him and says, "Please give a round of applause to my good friend Fitz! He learned our entire set in one day to replace our drummer, he's fucking awesome." Fitz almost passed out seriously what's his life.

They keep in touch after the tour, which Fitz did not expect. By the end, they're friends and they hug when they part ways and The Shield have started to make a name for themselves in much of Europe. They play smaller venues than they even played with The Patience but the venues are selling out and they're not starving anymore. Fitz can't thank Frank enough but Frank tells him that it was all them. Gives them advice on the music industry. Is just an all around cool older brother rockstar type.

Gerard tours for Hesitant Alien and Fitz takes Simmons along for a show. Gerard recognizes them. "You're in The Shield! Frank told me so much about you." His hug is amazing. Simmons thanks Gerard for talking about trans people onstage, says she's going through some gender stuff, and when he asks for her pronouns she says she doesn't know. This is all news to Fitz. They have a nice conversation about it and Gerard tells them he looks forward to the next album.

There is no next album. Simmons leaves the band, and then so does Johnson, and at that point it doesn't seem right to continue. Good thing they never went through and signed any contracts because that would've blown. They're still friends, best fucking friends, but for a while it's hard to even hang out together.

Bands always need a drummer so Fitz isn't out of a job but it's not the same. He emails Frank about it and it's nice to talk to someone that understands the hurt of it. Frank says he'll really miss their band and invites them all to the next Death Spells show. Fitz tags along with Morse and Hunter even though he really doesn't like Death Spells, what is this fucking noisy shit, and Frank tells them that they should just start a new band as a three piece. They're too good together, they gotta give it a try, and from that noise rock Undercover Agents is born. Okay, maybe Fitz likes the noise if he's helping create it.

Shortly after this, MCR reunite... sEcReTLy. Frank gets run over by a fucking bus, the world goes ape shit over MCRX, and shit starts to get bleak when a certain orange is elected to a certain office. And all of that happened in the space of, like, 3 weeks. The world needs MCR again. MCR needs MCR again. Frank is miserable in physical therapy, the Umbrella Academy just got picked up by Netflix, Ray and Mikey have their own projects. It's slow going. But they're sending each other music again and musing over what they might do and when they finally meet up and play together it feels magical like it had stopped feeling toward the end of MCR's run. Without the pressure of their label or the fans' expectations, without caring what anyone but the four of them think, it's finally fucking fun again. But are they really going to re-enter this juggernaut that almost destroyed their friendships?

(Shrug emoji)

They'll need a drummer. They have Jarrod, and Jarrod is awesome, playing with him again has also been great, but they kinda know a really great drummer that knows all their songs and is way too talented to be playing basements. No, they shouldn't involve anyone else... There's already rumors left and right and front and back about MCR getting back together, they're getting tired of dodging the questions, they should keep this in house. The best idea is to tell the fewest people possible. So Frank decides to be sneaky.

He sends Fitz something he put together from the MCRnot5 sound files, something they wrote recently, and tells him to give it a drum part. What's the project? Just a new one of his songs, obviously lol what else could it be, and Fitz is honored to be considered for that. What he sends Frank back is so fucking good. He gives it to the MCR guys, who don't have time to get mad at him about it because the drum part made the song come alive in a way they couldn't have imagined. Ray Toro's mind is blown and if something you do impresses Ray fucking Toro, you know it's good.

So they offer to fly Fitz out to LA, pay for his hotel and everything, only it's not "they" it's Frank and Frank refuses to tell Fitz what's going on. Just something for his band. Fitz has never been to America, let alone the Hollywood Hills, but Frank insists that it's a good opportunity that he shouldn't turn down. So Fitz goes and when he lands he's so jetlagged, what time is it, who is he? He's definitely not ready for what's to come, it's probably not fair that they're doing this to him, but they're excited to get him involved.

First he sits down to sign an NDA, which is incredibly suspicious and again he almost doesn't do it. Frank is vibrating and Fitz is so confused; please just sign it I swear it's a good reason you're about to be so happy. Fitz isn't about to make Frank plead, ship him across the Atlantic and America, to not sign a harmless sheet of paper. So he does it. Frank thanks him. And guides him into the practice space.

Mikeyway grins up at him from the ground where's he's sitting behind a bass, next to Ray behind a guitar, and Gerard on his back with his legs crossed. Fitz's eyes almost fall out of their sockets. This is My Chemical Romance. These are- He's in a room with- This is his favorite band. It's just the four of them and Fitz. It's just Fitz and MCR. Frank pats Fitz's shoulder and picks up his own guitar.

"So we're playing a show in LA and we wanted you to be our drummer," Frank says.

"As...My Chem?" Fitz says

"Surprise," Ray says, flashing that winning smile of his, and Fitz thinks he'll pass out.

He shakes hands with Mikey and Ray, mouth agape, thinking maybe he passed out somewhere from the jet lag and is dreaming, this can't be real, but then he's behind the drum set and they take their positions and. He can't believe he's seeing them altogether again, his favorite band, he's tearing up he can't do this, how could they expect him to do this nothing even seems real he's forgotten how to hold his drumsticks he's staring at all their asses and Gerard looks back with a smile and asks if he knows Sorrows, and he does of course he does, he could play most MCR songs in his sleep.

They play Sorrows. They play Sleep. They play INO. Fitz doesn't know Mastas but he basically picks it up after two listens; Mikeyway calls him a badass. What's his life. What. Is his life.

The shock doesn't quite go away as he plays his heart out and watches them do the same. Fitz is singing along to My Chemical Romance, playing My Chemical Romance, with My Chemical Romance. The guys are all jumping around and smiling at each other and Fitz feels so blessed to get to witness this before anyone else. How is he going to keep this from Hunter and Simmons? How is he going to keep this from strangers on the street who give him a weird look because he’s smiling like an idiot?

Every solo Ray does reinvigorates an exhausted Fitz, and Gerard’s voice swells in his fucking heart. In his entire chest. Frank and Mikey, the rest of the rhythm section, turn to him to grin while they play. They make it through the set and then Fitz is on the couch, half-asleep, trying really hard to listen to their conversation. But it’s enough to recognize their voices sounding so happy, laughing and smiling, together like he hadn’t heard them in years.

“So are you gonna play for us?” Gerard asks, and Fitz just laughs in his face. Of course he was, of course he was. He’s a little delirious and starting to crash and he takes a cab to his hotel, where he pretty much sleeps for 12 hours straight.

The next rehearsal, Fitz has more energy but he’s still definitely star struck. Ray makes everyone coffee. Fitz still can’t quite believe he’s drinking coffee made by Ray Toro. They talk more about the logistics of the show, which will be the largest audience Fitz has ever played for. When Fitz looks nervous about it, Mikeyway is reassuring; says he’s always been nervous too, but that they were gonna be on stage with some pretty cool dudes and they’d have fun and it’d be okay. Fitz can’t help tearing up at Mikeyway’s confidence.

Frank’s tuning his guitar when he asks Fitz, How does it feel to be in your favorite band? You tell me, says Fitz. They smile at each other. It feels fucking awesome.


End file.
